College For 30- The Journey Begins!

Sometimes (or most times) in life, we decide what we would like to buy long before we decide how we're going to pay for it. Typically the conclusion is that we will borrow the money to pay for it and worry about it later. As a newlywed and a part-time school teacher, taking on more debt is not particularly an option.

What am I going to buy? A college education! Unfortunately, I only have $30. A conservative guess of what I'll need to raise is about $10,000. Over the next year, I will share my journey with you of turning this $30 in to a college education. I've always been told that if there's a will, there's a way. I certainly have the will to return to school to obtain my Sports Administration masters degree. Let's see if I can do it on $30! Let the journey begin!

Three More Winter Sales

Although I knew things would be slow throughout the winter, that hasn't stopped me from at least trying! My key is this: don't be afraid to list bikes in the winter, but don't let them go for less than they'll likely go in the summer. I don't mind if none of them sell right now, I just don't want to minimize my profit margin just to get rid of them. These three bikes were exceptions to the usually slow winter. The first, a Bianchi San Jose single speed road/trackbike wasbeautiful! If it were a little smaller, I would have been tempted to keep it! Ipicked it up down in Colorado Springs for $250 and listed it for $500. I was surprised to

an email from someone in Topeka, Kansas that wanted to buy it. He said his dad would be in Denver the next week and would come by with $500 cash, and he did!

The second bike was an older Trek 6000 that my friend, Evan, found at Goodwill. He called me and told me about it. For $50, I liked it enough to have him buy it for me. I brought it home, gave it some TLC and put it on craigslist. A few days later a nice Indian gentleman talked me down to $150 for it. I was happy with the 3x profit and he was happy with a good bike for only $150!

The third bike was a Trek 4900 that I picked up a few months ago for $100 expecting to hold on to it until summer came. This was a steal for this bike since I thought I could get between $250 and $300 easily for it. In a weak and compassionate moment, though, a nice middle eastern man, who had just moved to downtown Denver, asked if I would take $250 for it. He was thrilled to get it and I was happy to give him something to commute on. That brought the total of these three winter sales to $900, or a $500 profit. The new total of the college fund is up to $2,300! The sun is starting to come out and we're almost 25% of the way there! An update of a different nature is that I found out a few days ago that I was accepted in to the grad program of the school that I would like to attend; the University of Northern Colorado! Now I just have to pay for it! Only $7,700 to go!!

2010 Gary Fisher Utopia

The woman selling this 2010 Gary Fisher Utopia hybrid bike said that she had ridden it a total of 4-5 times, and it was obvious! The bike looked just like it did months before as it sat on the showroom floor of Weatridge Cyclery with an $879.99 price tag on it. She was willing let it go for $250. I was prepared to hold on to it until the summer but when the offer of $500 (if I delivered it) was given, I jumped at it. As with all bikes, I aim to sell for double what I have paid for the bike. The $250 profit brought the new total to $1800. Almost to the 20% mark!

Best time to buy a bike? When nobody else is buying!!

I'm starting to think that winter is the best time to buy a bike. Must be because there's about as many people looking to buy bikes in the Colorado winter as there are people looking to buy snow tires in Houston. I picked this steal of a 2006 Specialized Rockhopper for $100 and quickly sold it for $300 cash (and a $50 REI gift card but we won't count that.) Add another $200 to the total!

Grindin it out, one bike at a time!

Nothing too special here, but I picked up this Trek 4300 last week for $100 and sold it yesterday for $200. With any bike, if I'm not pretty sure I can resell it for at least double what I paid, I don't go for it. I've recently picked up 3 more higher end bikes that I will hold on to until summer so I needed to make some room. The total now is up to $1,375 and is slowly moving forward even in the dead of winter! I would like to be to $3,000 by the time bike season rolls around again. Slowly but surely!